Jonathan has been blackmailed by British Intelligence to locate a set of secretly made films that incriminate a number of high-ranking British officials. His target: a top underworld figure who delights in debauchery and torture.

Jonathan Hemlock, the art professor and mercenary who first excited readers with his daring exploits in The Eiger Sanction, returns for another masterful adventure. Jonathan has gone to England for a vacation, but it is interrupted when British Intelligence needs him for his highly skilled services. Jonathan must take over the mission of an agent whose murder was so bizarre and terrifying that no other agent was willing to replace him. His task is to locate a set of secretly made films that incriminate a number of high-ranking British officials. His target is a top underworld figure who delights in debauchery and torture. Facing this threat, Jonathan is drawn into a labyrinthine network of intrigue and depravity. When the pieces of the dangerous puzzle fall together, he will be forced to attempt one of the most daring escapes ever conceived.